eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones, which were unveiled Sept. 7 and have been open for preorders since Sept. 9, are seeing healthy preorder numbers so far, according to reports from mobile carriers T-Mobile and Sprint.
The latest handsets, which are slated to be available to customers starting Sept. 16, have already outranked previous iPhone preorder numbers at T-Mobile so far and set a single-day preorder sales record for any smartphone ever offered by T-Mobile, according to a Sept. 13 statement by the company.
T-Mobile’s preorders from Sept. 9 through Sept. 12 were nearly four times the level of the next most popular iPhone, and are continuing to be strong, the statement said.
“iPhone 7 is the biggest preorder in T-Mobile’s history, and that says a lot about our momentum and the excitement customers have for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus,” John Legere, the president and CEO of T-Mobile, said in a statement. The preregistrations for the iPhone 7 before preorders even opened also broke preregistration records for T-Mobile, exceeding preregistrations for the iPhone6 and iPhone 6s handsets.
Sprint said it is also seeing soaring preorder rates for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which are up more than 375 percent in the first three days over last year’s release of the iPhone 6s models, according to a Sept. 13 announcement by the company.
“It’s clear that Sprint customers want to get the most out of the incredible iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus and know there’s no better place for this than Sprint,” Marcelo Claure, Sprint’s CEO, said in a statement.
Trip Chowdhry, managing director of equity research at Global Equities Research, wrote in a Sept. 13 report that the strong early preorder figures being seen by carriers indicates that the iPhone 7 handsets will likely sell very well.
The strength in iPhone 7 preorders is “not isolated to only T-Mobile, but all the carriers may experience strength in iPhone 7 preorders over iPhone 6 preorders, however the strength may vary,” he wrote. T-Mobile’s strong preorder sales “can be extrapolated to all the carriers worldwide,” he added.
The latest iPhone 7 models, which start at $649, are splash, water and dust-resistant, include new 12-megapixel cameras (dual lens cameras in the iPhone 7 Plus model) and the new A10 Fusion processor. The handsets come in 32GB, 128GB or 256GB versions.
The new iPhones no longer include a headphone jack, however, and come with a set of ear buds that connect to the phones using the existing Lightning port. Apple’s new optional wireless AirPods sell for an additional $159 to allow users to go wireless, though other options also exist.
The iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch Retina touch-screen display, while the iPhone 7 Plus uses a 5.5-inch Retina touch-screen display. Both handsets offer 4K video recording capabilities as well as autofocus and optical image stabilization features.
Apple’s latest iOS 10 mobile operating system, which is preloaded on the new iPhones, was released by Apple on Sept. 13 and will be pushed out to compatible devices.